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Pink Edition
Amelia Robinson
Sister-Sister Breast Cancer Support Group members front to back - Yolanda Pope, Wilifred Huff, Jacqueline Drew, Dorothy William, Ethel Hall and Roberta Towell.
Sister-Sister program offers support for breast cancer survivors
Hot Topics
By Amelia Robinson,
Staff Writer
Updated 4:03 PM Sunday, September 26, 2010
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This article is part of our month-long focus on breast cancer. To learn more or find ways to help, go to our Pink Edition Page.
DAYTON — Roberta Towell said she was given a death sentence 8 years ago. The Dayton woman was given just three to six month to live.
When she asked if she should continue to get mammograms, her doctor told her there was no reason to bother.
“I wasn’t given any hope,” said Towell, now 74. “I almost folded psychologically.”
Instead of rolling over, Towell said she found a new doctor and eventually found hope at Sister-Sister Breast Cancer Support.
“I found out there is life after breast cancer,” Towell said. “It was very important to me to find out there were women surviving.”
Members of the free support group say they find information and encouragement during the group’s sessions held 6 to 8 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month at Dr. Charles R. Drew Health Center, 1323 West Third St.
Meetings are also held 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. the third Wednesday of the month in January, March, May, July, September and November.
Aston “Sassy” McDaniel, 72, of Dayton, said the Public Health Dayton and Montgomery County program formed nearly 10 years ago is about growth. “I thought it would be a lot of people sitting around and crying,” she said. “There are so many people who share their stories. We are learning from each other.”
Rosalee Bradley, the program’s facilitator, said Sister-Sister works to destroy myths associated with breast cancer.
“Not only do women survive, but they thrive,” she said, noting that while most of the women in the group are black, it is open to everyone.
Two-year breast cancer survivor Dorothy William, 68, of Dayton, said that she has attended other support groups, but she finds a special closeness at Sister-Sister meetings.
Bradley said it is critical that black women, like their counterparts from other racial groups, find resources where all feel embraced.
“I think it is important that women of color have these networks of support,” she said.
Black women often have less access to health care. While breast cancer is about 20 percent higher in white women than in black women, the American Cancer Society says black women have a higher mortality rate. As of 2006, the society says breast cancer death rates were 38 percent higher in black women than in white women.
Black women are also more likely to be diagnosed at a later stage, when the cancer is less treatable.
In Ohio between 2002 and 2006, the breast cancer mortality rate per 100,000 women was 35 for black women compared to 26.4 for white women, the society said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2384 or Arobinson@DaytonDailyNews.com.
Sister-Sister meetings are held at the Dr. Charles R. Drew Health Center, 1323 West Third St., Dayton, at the following times:
6 p.m. to 8 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. the third Wednesday of the month in January, March, May, July, September, and November.
For more information call (937) 496-3225 or send e-mail to sistersister@phdmc.org
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